Monday, July 11, 2011

Trial Watch: King, McInerney's Teacher Testifies

The trial of Lawrence King's murderer, Brandon McInerney, continued today with testimony offered from the teacher that witnessed the shooting. In fact, Dawn Boldrin appears to be shaping up to be a key witness.

She further illustrated the differing personalities of the two students, giving insight into who they were at the time of the shooting (and in Larry's case, at the end of his life). She professed to have warm feelings for both the students, and even smiled at McInerney when she entered the courtroom.

She was quick to assert that McInerney was a good student who didn't cause trouble, stating that although he had once made a white-power statement in the classroom, he wasn't necessarily racist and spent most of his time with minority students. This echoes testimony given by students last week.

However, she didn't appear to take sides in the conflict between the two students, as she also told the courtroom that she and her daughter gave Larry a dress to wear for homecoming in addition to nail polish and a leopard print gift bag. While she cautioned King (just minutes before the fatal shooting) to be careful about being "pushy" about his orientation, she supported his right to be who he wanted to be.

"'I also told him he needed to respect others as much as he wanted their respect for being gay,' Boldrin said of making public his growing gay identity. 'Your classmates are young and this is hard on them and you maybe need to not be so pushy with it.'

"As far as encouraging King’s growing interest in female attire by providing him with dresses and makeup, she said on Monday that she didn’t feel she was crossing a line, since he had started wearing make-up and high heels before the gifts were given.

"'It seemed like the foster care he was in was not condoning it per se but at least allowing him to finally do what he wanted to do instead of fighting him on it,' Boldrin said, obliquely referring to strife between King and his adopted family. At the time of his death, King was living at a center for abused, neglected, and severely emotionally disturbed children."

She had some harsh words for the the officials at E.O. Brown, the Oxnard County school where the shooting took place, stating that they've done nothing to prevent further violence in the classroom. She no longer works there, and said "I wouldn't want to go back to the school where they treat students and me like that."

I will be having continued daily updates on the trial. View previous posts: